Checkers Sixty60 and Woolies Dash deliver the goods

South African retail majors Shoprite and Woolworths both saw handsome double-digit sales growth in their respective on-demand platforms for the six months ended 29 December 2024.

Shoprite and Woolworths each posted voluntary trading updates on Sens on Tuesday.

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In Shoprite’s case, its popular Sixty60 platform delivered online sales growth of 47.1%, while Woolies Dash pushed up sales by 49.2% over the six months.

Shoprite 

Shoprite’s core business – Supermarkets RSA – contributed 83.7% to group sales, representing sales growth of 10.4% over the period.

Checkers and Checkers Hyper, including their on-demand delivery platform Sixty60, recorded sales growth of 13.5%. Online sales from Checkers Sixty60 alone jumped 47.1%.

Shoprite and Usave reported sales growth of 6.7%, while Shoprite and Checkers LiquorShop sales increased by 12.2%.

The Supermarkets non-RSA segment recorded 4.1% sales growth, excluding hyperinflation. This equates to an 8.6% contribution to group sales.

Read: Pick n Pay shuts first hyper, replaced by Boxer (and Shoprite!)

New stores

Over the past 12 months, Shoprite’s Supermarkets RSA division opened a total of 248 additional stores – including 76 new-format adjacent category specialist stores such as Petshop Science (53), Checkers Outdoor (11), Uniq clothing (11) and Little Me (one).

As for non-RSA supermarkets, 10 new stores were opened over the past 12 months. There are now 269 stores in nine countries.

Shoprite expects to announce its interim results on Tuesday 4 March.

The retailer’s share price traded at R289.19 at around 3pm on Tuesday – 0.66% higher than the previous day.

Woolworths – food performs, apparel disappoints 

Woolworths South Africa delivered turnover and concession sales growth of 9.1% for the six months ended 29 December 2024.

Excluding Absolute Pets, which was acquired in the fourth quarter of the previous financial year, food sales increased by 9%.

Read: Woolworths recognised among world’s most trustworthy companies

Woolworths notes that discretionary spending in South Africa remains constrained, but consumer sentiment is improving, supported by moderating inflation, interest rates easing, and the prolonged suspension of load shedding.

In Australia, notwithstanding improved consumer sentiment and the uplift in retail sector sales buoyed by Black Friday, the sustained effect of high interest rates and elevated living costs continues to weigh on consumer behaviour and discretionary spending.

Read: Woolies gets another R500m hiding in Oz

Although the group’s food business showed a strong performance over the period, the weaker-than-expected performances of the group’s apparel businesses in both South Africa and Australia resulted in “negative operational leverage”, it notes.

Woolworths is expected to report headline earnings per share (Heps) of between 148.4 cents and 158.6 cents in the six months ended 29 December 2024, compared to a Heps of 203.3 cents in the corresponding period in 2023.

The group will announce its interim results on or about Wednesday 5 March 2024.

Woolworths’s share price shed 1.93% at around 3pm on Tuesday, trading at R57.35.

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